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Poland's Kaczynski gains lead in partial poll results

Other News Materials 5 July 2010 04:02 (UTC +04:00)
Polish presidential candidate Jaroslaw Kaczynski gained the lead in the second round of elections, according to partial poll results after voting stations closed Sunday, dpa reported.
Poland's Kaczynski gains lead in partial poll results

Polish presidential candidate Jaroslaw Kaczynski gained the lead in the second round of elections, according to partial poll results after voting stations closed Sunday, dpa reported.

Kaczynski, of the rightwing Law and Justice party, had received 50.41 per cent of the vote with 51.5 per cent of the polls reporting, the state commission said late Sunday.

Bronislaw Komorowski, of the centre-right Civic Platform party, had 49.59 per cent of the vote, the commission said.

Prior results had showed Komorowski in the lead, but the race got tighter as Kaczynski gained ground over his rival. Full official results were expected Monday afternoon.

Voter turnout was some 54.18 per cent, the commission said.

The Polish presidential elections were held early in order to find a successor to Lech Kaczynski, who died in a plane crash in April.

"Our Polish democracy has won," Komorowski said Sunday when earlier exit polls showed him in the lead. "And even though we'll have to wait for the big bottle of champagne tomorrow, I think we have enough reason for pride and joy."

The campaign had been "especially difficult because it took place in the shadow of the tragedy," he said.

Kaczynski, the twin brother of Lech Kaczynski, spoke to his supporters in Warsaw, saying his party now had a chance to win in the parliamentary elections scheduled for 2011.

"I congratulate the winner, I congratulate Bronislaw Komorowski," Kaczynski said after exit polls showed Komorowski winning. "But most of all I want to sincerely thank all those who participated in these elections, and those who supported us. There are many of them. So many that we can surely say that Poland has changed."

Sunday's election follows a first round of voting on June 20, in which no candidate secured a majority.

Long lines formed at polling stations on the Baltic coast, northern Poland, where thousands cast their vote during their vacations. There were also crowds in Hurghada, Egypt, another popular tourist destination for Poles, reported TVN 24.

Both candidates had cast their votes by the afternoon: Kaczynski in his native Warsaw, and Komorowski in Mackowa Ruda, a rural retreat in northeastern Poland where he was spending the weekend.

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